138 ORGANOGRAPHY. BOOK I. 



If it is distinct from the ovary, as in Silene, it is said to be 

 inferior {calyx inferus, or liberus) ; and the ovary is then called 

 superior {ovarium superum, or liberum) (Plate V. fig, 3.) ; but 

 if it is firmly attached to the sides of the ovary, so that it can- 

 not be separated, as in Myriophyllum, it is then called superior 

 {calyx superus), and the ovary inferior {ovarium inferum) 

 (Plate V. fig. 7. 9.). From what has been said of pappus it 

 will be obvious that it is a superior calyx. 



The general opinion of botanists, in regard to the real 

 nature of the superior calyx, is such as I have stated; and 

 the accuracy of it in the majority of cases is indisputable: 

 but it is by no means certain that, in some instances, what is 

 called the tube of the calyx is not, as I have elsewhere stated 

 {Introduction to the Natural System^ p. 26.), " sometimes a 

 peculiar extension or hollowing out of the apex of the'pedicel, 

 of which we see an example in Eschscholtzia, and of which 

 Rosa and Calycanthus, and, perhaps, all supposed tubes with- 

 out apparent veins, may also be instances." And if this be 

 so, the superior calyx may be so in consequence of the 

 cohesion of the ovary with the inside of an excavated 

 pedicel, and not with the calyx itself. 



Wlien the sepals cohere by their contiguous edges into a 

 kind of tube or cup, the calyx is said to be monophyllous ; an 

 inaccurate term, which originated in what may be called the 

 dark age of botany, when the real nature of organs was 

 unknown, and when a monophyllous calyx was thought to 

 consist really of a single leaf, clipped into teeth at its margin. 

 To avoid this inaccuracy, the word yamosejjalous has been 

 proposed ; but ,as the real nature of a monophyllous calyx is 

 now understood, changing the term is more embarrassing to 

 the student than profitable to science. 



Various terms are employed to express the degree in which 

 the sepals of a monophyllous calyx cohere : they will be ex- 

 plained in Glossology. When no cohesion whatever takes place 

 between the leaves of a calyx, the term sepalous is employed 

 with that Greek numeral prefixed, which is equivalent to the 

 number of pieces; as, for example, if they are two, the calyx is 

 dJsepalous; if three, trisepalous; if four, tetrasepalous, and so on. 



Sometimes the calyx has certain expansions or dilatations, 

 as in Scutellaria and Salsola. These are generally named 



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